Kevin Pietersen reaped the financial rewards of England's decision to end his international career as his former team-mates were again left counting the cost not only of the low standing of English cricket, but also of the clash between early summer internationals and the Indian Premier League.

Pietersen clinched the third biggest deal in the sixth IPL auction as Delhi Daredevils, the franchise who had declined the opportunity of retaining him last month when his England future remained uncertain, spent £880,000 in the knowledge that, for the first time, he would be available for the whole campaign.

It helped to make him more valuable than Australia's Ashes heroes Mitchell Johnson and David Warner, who were signed for £636,000 and £538,000 by King's XI Punjab and the Hyderabad Sunrisers respectively, and means that unlike England, Pietersen will be coached by Gary Kirsten this year – as the South African is in his first season with the Daredevils.

Pietersen's popularity at the auction was in contrast to the treatment of the other seven players who entered after representing England in the past 13 months. Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Samit Patel and Luke Wright did not receive a single bid between them. All seven will have a second chance when the eight franchises return to auction for a second shopping spree on Thursday, although most of the money is spent and vacancies for overseas players are few and far between.

That could be seen as good news for the standing of county cricket as, barring any late bids, it means that all the contenders for England places will be aiming to prove a point in the championship this spring.

Eoin Morgan had already opted to withdraw from the auction after talks with Paul Downton, the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and other young talents who may have attracted more interest than the unwanted seven, notably Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, never planned to enter.

Angus Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said the handicaps that English players continue to take into the auction, even after an agreement with the ECB to allow them to stay for slightly longer in the IPL this year, remain a concern.

"There are probably a number of components," Porter said. "Clearly some of them didn't have full availability, and even the ones like Luke Wright who had agreements with their counties were probably going to be required back by England by mid-May.

"That is a major factor, and so is the fact that there aren't many English coaches in the IPL – and coaches inevitably go with the players they know, so we lose in that respect. The final point is that we're not exactly on the crest of a wave after what happened in Australia this winter."

Porter cannot do much about that but he confirmed that the PCA will continue its attempts to make its members more attractive to IPL franchises by reducing the conflict with England internationals.

"I wouldn't underestimate the importance of our players not being available at the sharp end of the tournament," he said. "Even somebody like Kevin Pietersen has benefited hugely in this auction because is now able to play right the way through."

Despite the state of flux surrounding the England team, the agreement between the PCA and the ECB still holds; that contracted players are expected back from the IPL around 13 May – a week before the first international fixture of the season, which is a Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka followed by a five-game 50-over series, with the first Test of the summer not until mid-June.

It has clearly not achieved the objectives of Porter and the PCA by making English players more attractive but he hopes the recent changes at the International Cricket Council might help to avoid as many clashes between internationals and the IPL.

"A number of questions have come out of the various changes at the ICC," he said. "One of the things that no one yet knows is the impact these changes will have on the tour programme, and whether that might provide an additional bit of elbow room in our season."